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' G. H. GARDNER.

Thill Coupling. No.-- 76,183. Patented March 31, 1868.

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Leo/m Patent No. 76,188, dated March :31, 1868.

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TO'ALL WHOM "IT MAY oonon trn 1 p Be it known um I, GEORQE H;. ARDNER,of Philadelphia, in the county of Phil adelphie, and state ofPennsylvania, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in-Thin-Couplings for Carriages, and I do.

herehydeclare that the following is a i'ull, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings,making port of this specification, ondto the letters of reference nmrkedthereon, like letters indicating like parts Wherever they occur. i

To enable others skilled inthe art to construct and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe it. i The object of my invention is to producea safe,'cheap, and simple coupling for-attaching the thills or shafts ofcarriages, buggies, 850., when the thills are attached'tothc axle. Inthe drawings accompanying- {Figure 1 is a vertical section on the linea: x.

Figure 2 is a top plan view.

l'lo the a'xle A, I attach a'y oke, B, in the ordinary manner, and tothe sides of the yoke rigidly secure thetvlo side plates orlugs, D 1),these plutes extending horizontally from the axle, as shown in -figs. 1and 2,

they having firmly attached to them (by riveting or otherwise) a bolt,e, as shown in fig. 1, this bolt-being parallel to the toxic A. Betweenthe plates D D, and on the face of the yoke, is placed a block ofrubber, E, which is secured to the yoke by arivet, b, as shown in fig.'1, this rivet passing through the yoke, and having a head on theinside, thus firmly securing the rubber in place, and preventing itsloss when the thills nrc detached. To. the hind end of the chills isseoured a hoolg O, its breadth being such as'to allow of its passingbetween-the plates D D, and having on its under side a slot or opening,as shown in fig. 1, thebreadth of which is a, little more than thediameter of the bolt e, so as to allow of its being hooked on to thebolt when in a. proper position, the outer surface or end of this hookbeing eccentric to the bolt a when the hookis in position. The slot isplaced at such an angle in thehook G is to be perpendicular only whenthe front ends of the thills are on the ground.

- To attach the thills the operation-is as follows The forward endsbeing placed upon the ground, the hind ends are lifted up'and thehooksdroppedin place. The forward ends being then lifted, theeccentricportion of" the hook C is brought to bear snugly against the rubberE,and the rear arm of the hook broughtnnder the bolt 0, thus preventingalinoise and rattling, 'aswell as the danger of the thills becomingdetached.

By those means I dispense with all loose bolts, straps, keys, springs,&c., and at thc'same time make a safe coupling, as thethills can bynomoons become disengaged, as they are always looked in place when thehorse or other animal is harnessed up.

Having thus described my invention, what I'claim is- The thill-iron C,having the eccentric-head F and inclined'slot-D, in combination with theclip Bfunited by the bolt e and the rubber E, all constructed andarranged as desci'ibed.

- p GEoRG 11.; GARDNER. Witnesses:

H. B. .MUNN, P. '1. DODGE. j

